


Astral

by mattaretto



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Coma, F/M, Needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 02:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17840528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattaretto/pseuds/mattaretto
Summary: After a mishap during a mission, you’re left in coma with no way of waking up, until someone comes to your aid.





	1. Chapter 1

Everything was hectic, people were yelling, shouting orders. Bucky was carrying a body, limp in his arms, running toward the quinjet where Bruce was waiting. The body was placed on the stretcher and you watched, trying to get a look at who had been injured, and just how badly.

“What the hell did they give her?” Bruce asked, checking the person’s vital’s a beginning to hook them up to an IV. You tried pushing to the front, but everyone was crowding around Bruce and whoever lay on the stretcher. You huffed and did a head count, seeing everyone was there, you figured it was a civilian and sat down in one of the chairs.

You walked around the halls, trying to find someone to talk to. Everyone had been hauled up in their rooms, the gym, or in the infirmary. Everyone once and a while you could hear one of the team members talking to you, even though they were never in the same room as you. You wanted to talk to someone about it. 

You finally found Bruce in his lab, looking at a screen and reading some numbers, “Hey Bruce? I need to talk to you about something.” He hummed slightly, but you didn’t realize it was because of what he reading, “Every so often I hear someone talking to me, but they’re never in the room.” He didn’t say anything, and as you went to continue, you could hear Steve talking to you, “Bruce I can hear Steve right now. He’s talking about it’s his fault. He’s asking me to come back, to stay strong. He’s not even in here Bruce, do I have super hearing all the sudden? Bruce, what’s happening to me?” 

His eyes widened and you thought he was about to give you the information you needed, but he walked right by you and out the door. You followed him down the corridors to the infirmary, the one place you hadn’t gone too since the mission. 

“I figured it out!” Bruce exclaimed startling Steve who sat beside the hospital bed. Without everyone crowding, you could finally look at the body in the bed. 

“What is it?” Steve asked, standing and turning to Bruce. 

It was your body lying in the bed. You were the one that had been injured. 

Three weeks later you were sat on the middle of the kitchen island, no one being able to see you. A few people were sitting at the island, Wanda was sitting on the island in front of Vision, Bucky was leaning up against one of the counters, and Clint was sitting on top of the fridge. No one was speaking. 

“Guys, c’mon, I’m right here.” You whined, you’d been trying for three weeks, but they never noticed you. 

“How do we wake her up?” Wanda finally broke the silence, not looking up from the plate of food that rested in her lap. 

“I don’t know,” Bruce admitted, lowering his head. 

“You said something about astroial projection, right?” 

“It’s astral, Manchurian candidate.” Tony snapped, arms crossing over his chest. Bucky went to respond but Steve cut him off. 

“Now’s not the time to fight.” Steve kept his voice level but you knew there was more emotion behind it than he was willing to show. 

“Do you think she can hear us? That she’s wandering around and trying to speak to us?” Clint asked, looking down at the group, “Do you think she knows that she’s just lying there?” The tone of Clint’s voice made your chest tighten, he sounded so broken and scared. 

“I can hear you. I’ve been able to hear you for three weeks, I’ve been trying to speak to you for three weeks.” You pleaded, trying to get them to hear you. You were desperate and could feel a lump forming in your throat, “Wanda, please? You have to be able to hear me, something. Vision, you have the mind stone, surely you can tell I’m here. Please.” You sobbed, praying they would finally notice. 

“She might be,” Sam whispered, looking aimlessly at his cup of coffee. You grew frustrated and screamed, picking an apple off the table and throwing it. Having interacted with the physical plane a million times before, you didn’t expect anything to come from it. But when everyone’s attention turned to the wall where the apple exploded against, you realized you had actually thrown it. 

Bits of apple laid on the ground, and around the room, juices dripping down the wall and the scent of fresh apple filling the room. 

“Who the fuck threw that?” Tony hissed, “Whoever it was gets to clean it up, now.” Various statements of ‘I didn’t do it’ were said and Tony groaned, “Fine. F.R.I.D.A.Y, replay the footage from the kitchen.” 

“Yes, sir.” The A.I responded and video footage from just a minute ago was pulled up. They watched closely, listening to their conversation again. There was a little bit of a sound distortion before the conversation started and after Clint spoke. Right after Sam finished speaking, another, more noticeable, sound distortion could be heard and the apple flew across the room. You watched with them, surprised you had been able to move the apple. 

“Replay the apple bit.” Steve said, taking a closer look at the way the apple moved, “Again, half speed.” 

“Steve, what’re you looking for?” Nat asked, moving to stand beside him. 

“Look at the way the apple moves before it’s thrown.” The video replayed once more and Nat realized the same thing Steve did. 

“That’s how (Y/N) throws.” Her voice was quiet and distant.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, clean up the audio and replay it from the beginning,” Clint ordered, hoping down from the fridge and walking over to the group. The video played again, the audio clearer. After Clint spoke there was a faint whisper of what you knew was your voice. The team looked around at each in shock. 

“Enhance the audio and replay from the beginning,” Clint ordered to the A.I. The video was once more replayed and what they heard left everyone in shock. 

“Guys, c’mon, I’m right here.” Everyone paled, they recognized your voice. And you sounded so disheartened like you were ready to give up.

“Pause the video,” Bruce said, and the video stopped, “(Y/N), are you still in here? Can you try to move something again if you are?” His voice was hesitant, and you weren’t sure if you could. 

“I can try..” You whispered, suddenly getting an idea and you walked over to Sam. He had a habit of pranking you, so in revenge, you tried to slap him. When his head snapped to the side and he groaned, holding his cheek, you cheered, “AHA! That’s for all the stupid fucking pranks!” You shouted, knowing they couldn’t hear you, but you didn’t care.

“Was that really necessary?” He huffed and you smirked, “F.R.I.D.A.Y, just play the rest of the video.” 

The conversation continued on and finally, they could hear what you said, “I can hear you. I’ve been able to hear you for three weeks, I’ve been trying to speak to you for three weeks.” They listened to your voice crack and they knew you were close to crying, “Wanda, please? You have to be able to hear me, something.” You started sobbing along with the video, wishing that they could hear you, “Vision you have the mind stone, surely you can tell I’m here. Please.” The sobbing in the video made the team’s heart clench. Sam spoke and they could hear the angered scream as you threw the apple across the room. The video stopped and everyone just stood there.

“We’ll figure this out, I promise,” Steve said as Tony stormed out of the room, presumably to go to his lab. 

“We have to have a way to communicate with her until we can figure this out,” Natasha said. 

“Morse code,” Bucky said and everyone looked at him, everyone thinking the same thing, you don’t know morse code.

“Buck, she doesn’t-”

“I taught her Morse code a few months ago. She wanted to learn, so I taught her. We’d only be able to speak to her one at a time, but if she can somewhat interact with everything else, she can tap us. We all know morse code, it won’t be hard.” Everyone seemed to agree with the idea. 

Six months passed. Six long, restless months of being unable to communicate with anyone. Sure you could tap morse code out on their hands or arms, but it wasn’t anywhere near the same. You couldn’t be social like you wanted. You were confined to the walls of the compound, and you were starting to go stir crazy. 

You had already pulled pranks, and it grew boring because they couldn’t prank you back. You started to withdraw yourself, it wasn’t hard. All you had to do was stop talking to them in morse. You could see their worry grow, but you just wanted to be able to talk to them again.

You were sitting in the infirmary, curled up at the end of the bed your body was laying on. You were no longer hooked up to the life support, but otherwise, you laid in a coma. You began to sob, curling in on yourself more. 

Tony and Bruce were no closer to finding a way to wake you up, and you tried so many things to try and wake up. Nothing seemed to work. You felt completely helpless, wanting nothing more than just to be able to interact normally. 

The entire team had to leave for a mission. They wanted at least one person to stay back, but this mission required all of them. The lights for an intruder started flashing before they stopped as quickly as they started. 

Curious, you stood and began to walk around the compound to see what had caused the lights to go off. Eventually, you got to the common room where a man in a red cape stood there, his back toward you. You didn’t recognize him, but you also knew he couldn’t see you. With a sigh, you turned on your heels and went to walk out of the room. 

“Ah! There you are.” You spun around and the man was looking right at you. 

“You-You can see me?” You sputtered, eyes wide. 

“Of course I can see you.” He made it sound as if everyone could see you, “I’m Doctor Strange. I’m here to help you.” 

The first thing Bucky did when he got back was to go the infirmary to check on you, to sit down and tell you that the mission had been a success. He knew that you would be able to hear him, whether you were in the room or not. But what he saw, rather didn’t see, upon entering made his heart stop. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, locate (Y/N),” He ordered, walking out the infirmary to tell everyone the news. But when the A.I responded, he stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Miss. (Y/L/N) isn’t in the building.”


	2. Astral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years pass, the reader reunites with the team, and a mission goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tissues.

2 years. That’s how long you had been gone. Two painful, empty years in the compound without you. They only had a little bit of footage to go off of from the day you disappeared. A man with a red clock appeared, for all of about 2 minutes, before he was gone.

First, he was in the common room, seemingly talking to no one. Then he was in the infirmary, again talking to no one just seconds before you shot up in the bed. You talked to the strange man for about thirty seconds before you were both gone.

There were no leads. The entire time the man had managed to keep his face away from all the cameras. Street cameras, security cameras, hadn’t even picked up you. It was like you dropped off the face of the Earth. You had dropped off the face of the Earth.

When not on missions, everyone was doing their best to track you down. Dead ends. Every. Single. Time. Slowly, one by one, people started to give up hope. They had no clue who the man was. Was he HYDRA? Did they try to get information from you? Had you refused to break, resulting in your death? Bucky had been the only one to not give up hope, enlisting the help of Sam and Steve when he needed to. But they had both given up hope long ago.

There had even been a small funeral, Bucky refused to attend. Bucky refused to believe you were dead. He knew that you were somewhere, that you would return one day.

Two years. You spent two years training, learning to control your abilities. As it turned out, the needle that a HYDRA agent had jammed into your neck that fateful day two years ago, gave you astral projection. It wasn’t exactly astral projection, you were able to interact with the physical plane, but it was close enough.

Now you were ready, ready to go back to the team. You’d never been more nervous in your life. You had been nervous to leave the team, but you knew you needed too. You’d been away for too long.

As you drove closer to the compound, your anxiety grew. Would they be mad at you? Would they be happy to see you? Had they even looked for you? Did they think you’re dead? A million questions ran through your head.

You pulled up to the gate, rolling down the window and pressing the button.

“Name.”

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N),” You kept your voice even, fingers crossed that they would let you in.

“Nice try.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“Leave before I call the cops.” He threatened and you sighed, backing up the vehicle and away from the gate. You parked on the street by the entrance to the driveway, pulling out your phone and praying Tony still had the same number.

“Hello? How’d you get this number?” He asked, and you could tell he was angry and slightly worried.

“Tony! It’s (Y/N), the security guard won’t let me in.”  There was no other reply rather than the beeping of a dial tone. Groaning, you dialed Steve’s number.

“This is Steve Rogers, who’s calling?”

“Steve, it’s (Y/N), Tony hung up on me and I can’t get into the compound.”

“Whoever this is, this isn’t funny.” He was clearly angry.

“What? No, Steve- This isn’t a joke. I’m serious.”

“Don’t call again.” He hung up and you pulled the phone away from your ear and stared at it. The next number came easy to you, surely she’d believe you.

You spoke as soon as she answered the phone, “Natasha! It’s (Y/N), Steve and Tony both just hung up on me, and won’t let me into the compound. You’ve gotta let me in.”

“(Y/N)’s dead.” Her voice was even, showing no emotion like always.

“I’m literally on the phone with you Natalia.”

“How’d you know that name?” She hissed, starting to get angry.

“Because I’m (Y/N)! Gods sake. Where’s Plum, he’d believe me.”

“Plum?”

“Plum butt! Bucky! Metal arm, like 6’, brown hair, blue eyes.”

“Only (Y/N) calls him that.”

“I KNOW! Oh for the love of god, for the best spy in the world you sure can be dense.”  The line went dead and you groaned. You knew the next number like the back of your hand. It went straight to voicemail, and you tried again. You tried Tony, Steve, and Natasha again. They all went straight to voicemail, had they all blocked your number? You slumped in your seat, driving back to the small cabin you built by the compound. You could understand why they didn’t believe you, but at the same time, you couldn’t.

You slammed the door shut as you entered, throwing your keys onto the hall tree. You huffed, going and sitting on your couch. Without an issue, you placed yourself in the middle of the common room.

Natasha was walking in, phone in hand, pointing at Tony with a glare on her face. “Did you block that number?” She hissed, throwing the phone at Tony when he nodded.

“What the hell was that for? It’s not like it was actually her!”

“Did you even take a second to talk to her and find out?”

“Why, did you?” Tony asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes! And it was her, you idiot!”

“She’s dead!” Steve interrupted, standing from his seat on the couch as he shouted. You growled, willing yourself not to do anything that could harm the team.

“No, she’s not! That was her!”

“And how do you know?” Steve questioned, his voice dangerously low.

“Because she referred to Bucky as Plum. No one calls him that, no one could even know that nickname!” Bucky’s head shot up at hearing the old nickname.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, track the number that called Tony, Steve, and Natasha,” Bucky ordered, and you smiled. He hadn’t given up hope. F.R.I.D.A.Y replied with the phone’s location, your cabin which was hidden from the physical plane. Bucky got up but was stopped by Tony who looked up from his phone.

“Debriefing, now.” Was all he said.

You went to the debriefing room with everyone else, standing in a corner as you listened. It was a HYDRA base, one trying to recreate the winter soldier. You knew they always made those priorities, you also knew how involved Bucky became, how much it affected him. You walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. You knew he would feel it, you made sure that he could. He seemed to know it was you and leaned back into his chair slightly so his head would rest against your stomach if you were on the physical plane. You smiled down at him, though he couldn’t see, and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. His eyes closed and he hummed contently, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room.

“You good there, Barnes?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. He cleared his throat, nodding.

“Yea, yea, I’m good.” You giggled and patted his shoulder softly. They continued with the debriefing, they were leaving next week. Everyone was dismissed and you followed Bucky out of the compound. You knew immediately where he was going and brought yourself back to your small cabin. You brought it to the physical plane, as well as yourself, deciding to wait outside.

It didn’t take long, Bucky was sprinting past trees toward the cabin. He stopped at the edge of the clearing and just stared, his eyes landing on you and he smiled widely, laughing as he started to cry. He broke out into a sprint again, hugging you with such a force it knocked you both to the ground, though neither of you cared.

He held onto you tightly, pulled close to his body like he was afraid he was going to lose you again. Because he was because he was terrified. You wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your head in his chest as he buried his head into your hair.

He pulled back to look at you and you cupped his cheeks. A broken laugh passed his lips and you smiled widely.

“You’re here, you’re alive.” He sounded so elated and hearing his voice made him realize just how much you had missed him and everyone else.

“Of course I am.” You brushed your thumb over his cheek and he leaned into your hand.

“How long have you been here?”

“About six months."

“Six months? Why didn’t you come back sooner?” He looked hurt and you frowned.

“Because I wasn’t ready,” You whispered, running a hand through his hair to push it back, “It was still too dangerous, I was still too dangerous.” He understood, better than anyone else ever could, and nodded. He pressed his forehead to yours, your noses brushing slightly.

“I’m just glad you’re back.” He murmured and pressed his lips against yours slowly, allowing you to pull back if you wanted. You didn’t, rather sought out his lips and pulled him closer to you. You pulled back when you had to breathe, laying your head on the ground as you stared up at him.

“I missed you so much.” He whispered, beginning to cry again. You brushed the tears from his cheeks, leaning up to kiss his forehead.

“I missed you too.” You whispered, pulling him back down to connect your lips once more.

Over the next week, you had a reunion with everyone. You showcased your powers, Tony threw a party, and everything was okay. The HYDRA mission was coming up and with your powers, the team wanted you to go. You were an excellent fighter before, but now? You were unmatched.

You sat beside Bucky on the quinjet, hand in his as Steve did a run down of the mission, again. The jet landed and everyone stood. You and Bucky stood in the quinjet facing each other, the others having already disembarked.

“Be safe, please.” He whispered, and you frowned at the pure fear in his voice.

“I will, I promise.” You leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before joining the others. He paused for a few moments, afraid that if he left you something would happen like last time. It was his worst nightmare, he was terrified something would happen and you wouldn’t make it.

He pushed the thoughts aside and went to his position as the sniper.

Twenty minutes into the mission and something had gone wrong. It started when Steve accidentally gave away his position, something the punk had a habit of doing. Then it was you screaming for back up, something about a device that halted your powers.

Then there was the shot, and he froze, “Everyone, to the quinjet, now.” Clint ordered, and Bucky took off in that direction. He was the last to reach the quinjet, due to being at the far end of the HYDRA base, and he looked around, panting to catch his breath.

“What happened?” He asked, boarding the quinjet completely breathless. Everyone was too preoccupied, and he forced his way through everyone. He felt the world stop, his breath hitching in his throat as he saw you laying there, hole in your uniform and blood turning the dark blue suit darker.

“What happened?” He growled, not once looking away from you.

“Buck-”

“What happened?!” He asked again, turning around to face the team.

“We were fighting, she wasn’t on the physical plane. She saw someone going to shoot at me and jumped planes, getting in front of me. I couldn’t see her, I didn’t know until she screamed. There were so many, by the time I could get the room cleared she’d lost a lot of blood.” Clint spoke quietly and Bucky could feel his world falling apart.

Coughing from behind him caused him to whip around, seeing your eyes open as you tried to speak. He rushed to be beside you, kneeling by your head and holding your hand.

You smiled weakly, giving his hand a small squeeze, “H-Hey plum butt.” He chuckled weakly at the nickname, tearing up as he watched you cough up blood.

“Hey, ghost,” You smiled again at the new nickname you acquired with your powers, “You’re gonna be alright, alright?” He reached up with his left, brushing the hair from your face before resting it on your cheek. You leaned into the cool metal, looking up at him with tears in your eyes.

“We both,” you coughed up more blood, “know I’m not gonna make it.”

“Don’t you dare talk like that. You’re gonna be fine.” The quinjet took off, but Bucky didn’t budge. He protested slightly when you pulled your hand from his but leaned into it the second it touched his cheek. He moved his hand to cover yours, closing his eyes.

“You’re gonna save the world one day, Buck. I know it.” He opened his eyes, finally allowing the tears to run down his cheeks.

“I just got you back, you can’t leave me,” He voice cracked, “You can’t leave me,” he whispered again, “I love you, please don’t leave me.”

A weak smile graced your lips, and he knew then that you loved him too. Your hand slowly went limp in his and sobbed wracked his body as kept it pressed against his cheek. Bucky didn’t move until Steve forced him away, tears in his own eyes and wrapped his arms around his heart broken friend. Bucky’s body shook against his friends, his sobs the only thing filling the quinjet.


End file.
